


An Answer in Kind

by cassiopeiasara



Category: The Worst Witch (TV 2017)
Genre: Agatha is in here for a minute, F/F, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Series, a touch of angst with a fluffy end, confession of feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-30
Updated: 2017-10-30
Packaged: 2019-01-26 14:26:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12559408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cassiopeiasara/pseuds/cassiopeiasara
Summary: Cast out after her failure to run Cackle’s as a competent co-Headmistress, Agatha reveals Ada’s feelings for Hecate in a fit of rage. Ada is left figuring out how to navigate her relationship with Hecate now that the truth is out.





	An Answer in Kind

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Many thanks to Alafair for her beta work and for the line I built this fic around. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own these characters and I seek no profit. Title from the poem "Letters" by Linda Pastan.

They had all warned her -- Mother, Hecate, even Miss Bat -- but Ada hadn't listened.  Her commitment to a promise made at just thirteen had echoed louder in her mind than the wisdom of experience. She’d hoped that Agatha might rise above her spite and their oft tumultuous history and handle her role as co-Headmistress with grace and poise, as was their duty as keepers of the Craft.  

Unfortunately, this particular endeavor with her sister had failed in spectacular fashion. And, as had happened so many times before, Ada found herself in her own office, facing a wrathful Agatha with flames at the ready.

“I wanted this to work, Agatha,” she said evenly. “I truly did.”

Agatha scoffed and distinguished the flame in her hand. “You’ve got your way again like always, but don't be fooled, Ada: you’ll crumble without me. I’m the closest thing you have to a backbone.” She sneered at Ada’s hands, raised before her in a protective stance. “Look at you tremble! Can hardly bear the thought of harming your _dear_ _little sister_.”

Ada watched Agatha’s eyes dart toward the corner where Hecate stood, fingers twitching. Their Deputy Headmistress looked as though she would have no qualms about stepping in if Ada somehow faltered.

With a grim smile at the thought, Ada steadied her own hands and sent a magical shove in her sister’s direction. “It’s time you leave, Agatha, while I still have half a term to salvage the damage you’ve done.”

Agatha rolled her eyes. “Oh, put your magic away, Ada. I’ll leave your darling school with its failing standards and dwindling talent.”

An odd mixture of relief and despair, so closely associated with Agatha in her mind, washed over her, and Ada let out a breath she had scarcely noticed herself holding. Hecate was at her side in an instant. “Not until she’s gone,” Hecate said lowly, insistently, and only then did Ada notice that she had started to lower her hands.

Agatha’s laugh, cruel and mocking, snaked its way around them, between them. “ _Really._ You are truly pathetic, Ada. Your cowardice knows no bounds.” She moved in their direction and Hecate’s hands flew up. Agatha stopped her advance, but her smile lost none of its malice. “Of course. Ever her protector.” She returned her attention to Ada. “Tell me, sister, will you finally confess to her once I’m gone, or will you continue your futile attempts to hide?”

Ada felt the blood pounding in her ears. She only had enough time to reflect that this was the first time, in quite a long while, that she felt truly helpless, before Agatha continued, “She’s in love with you, Hecate. It's quite ridiculous -- she won't tell you, because she knows she has no chance of breaking down the fortress you’ve built around you. Have fun turning down someone who can't ever match you, Hecate." Agatha turned back to Ada.  "Until next time, sister." And with that, she he transferred away.

Ada found herself rooted in place, but Hecate immediately moved to send out a detection spell. Ada watched her work until, apparently satisfied, Hecate came to stand before her. “She seems to have gone,” Hecate said with a firm and businesslike nod. “I’ll do a more thorough sweep of the grounds to be certain.”

Ada felt the trembling of her hands but still found herself unable to move. Was it not enough for Agatha to once more betray her trust and their once-shared dream? Robbing Ada of the chance to reveal her feelings to Hecate on her own terms was a cruelty she hadn’t fathomed. Of course, Agatha had never hesitated to press her advantage, with what little power she had left, when she knew herself to be beaten. That she could do so to spite her sister further -- Ada may well should have known better, but that did nothing to lessen the hurt.

“Ada, have you heard a word I’ve said?”

Ada blinked several times against the watering of her eyes and Hecate swam into view, brow furrowed in concern. How long had she stood, lost in thought, as Hecate spoke to her? “Hecate. I -- no, I’m sorry, I…”  
  
Hecate’s dark eyes moved over her, assessing her as she might one of the girls if she suspected they were injured. She gestured toward Ada’s favorite chair.  “Ada, perhaps you should sit.” She sounded so calm, so measured, so very much like she always did, that Ada wondered for a moment if she had even heard what Agatha said. “Ada, rest. Please?”

Ada sat. Her immediate instinct was to reassure Hecate, to insist she stop worrying so, but she could not find the words.

Satisfied that Ada was sufficiently settled, Hecate summoned her broomstick. “I’m off to check the grounds, and then I’ll come back here.” There was a question there in the upturn of her voice. Ada nodded in answer and Hecate transferred away.

Ada leaned heavily on the armrest of her chair and tried to calm her racing thoughts. _She’s in love with you_. It was the truth, one Ada had only recently admitted to herself, let alone to Agatha. And while this wasn’t the first time Agatha had revealed her feelings to a crush out of meanness or spite, it hadn’t happened since they were children, and what Ada felt for Hecate ran so much deeper than mere girlhood infatuation.

She had not yet decided if she even wanted to reveal her feelings to Hecate. They had a school to run, after all, and a rapport they had worked for the last fifteen years to build. Not only that, but they had become true friends as well -- and why would Ada risk ruining their relationship? She could deny it, of course: explain it away as yet another one of Agatha’s twisted and cruel tricks, but lying would not be fair to Hecate. Perhaps Hecate might even prefer to ignore it altogether, and so too could Ada… and yet somehow that thought hurt all the more.

Hecate appeared some moments later, a few hairs loose from her bun and backlit by the glow of the fireplace. Again Ada had been so lost to her own thoughts that she was caught somewhat off guard. She tried to slow her breathing to counteract the rapid beating of her heart.

“She’s gone,” Hecate confirmed. Her eyes again moved over Ada’s form. “Ada, are you all right?”

Ada considered smiling, simply brushing off the whole evening with a cup of tea and a biscuit, but found that for once, she did not have it in her to pretend. As she looked up at her Deputy, she could see the myriad of questions behind Hecate’s eyes, and the hope that Ada could provide some of the answers.

She wasn’t so sure she could.

“I’m,” Ada paused, trying to find the right words, but she could not sort through the jumble of her thoughts. She shook her head. “I’m tired.”

It was true. She’d spent the day mitigating the disaster left in the wake of Agatha’s rage: a floundering staff and a student body cowering in corners, afraid of the Headmistress who threatened to turn them all into snails This evening, of course, she’d confronted Agatha directly. And now they had half a term to turn things around, to get back on track, and that only meant long days and longer nights ahead.

Hecate nodded, accepting the explanation. “You should rest.”

It was the second time she’d mentioned it, and Ada suddenly felt like such an old fool. As much as her arguments with Agatha made her feel like a teenager again, she was most definitely not one any longer. She was exhausted from fighting and beginning to feel the full weight of her sister’s actions. She did indeed need to rest, yet here she sat. It wouldn’t do.

Ada sighed and rose to her feet. “Thank you for that advice, Deputy.” Her words were clipped and Hecate’s face hardened at the dismissal in her tone. Ada knew it was unkind of her to be so short with Hecate, who wanted only to help, but she did not have the energy to be careful.

“Good night, Headmistress,” Hecate said, and she transferred away.

That night, settled in her room with only the sound of her crackling fire to keep her company, Ada cried for the sister she’d once again lost and the friend she worried would soon follow.

* * *

The next several weeks bred their own share of chaos, but it took less time than Ada anticipated to set right the damage Agatha had done. Many girls were still hesitant upon seeing her, expecting a transformation into the Headmistress they’d learned to fear, but lemon drops and soft reassurances went a long way to assuage their doubts.

Hecate made sure to give daily reports, staying long into the evenings if necessary, but there was no lingering over cups of tea, no joking about Miss Drill’s flying lessons or the offkey nature of Miss Bat’s classes. She was stiffer than usual at meal times and barely glanced in Ada’s direction in the corridors.  

Ada ached to reach out, to try and explain herself, but Hecate had taken her curtness that night as its own declaration, one of distance and professionalism Ada hadn’t seen since Hecate started at Cackle’s. Ada was at a loss as to how to bridge the gap between them.

An unexpected solution presented itself in the form of a weekend outing for the students suggested by Miss Bat and Miss Drill. Surprisingly, they’d already received Hecate’s approval, though she declined to join them. Ada readily gave her consent, signed off on the trip, and on that Saturday went out in search of her Deputy.

After a few hours of wandering the nearly empty castle (a locator spell might have saved her time, but she wouldn’t risk making things worse), she found Hecate in one of the gardens dedicated to supplying potions ingredients. Hecate didn’t acknowledge Ada’s approach, but Ada knew she’d heard her.

She cleared her throat to begin. “I don’t want to disturb you, but I was hoping--”

Hecate looked up, her lips pursed and a hard look on her face. “Yes, Headmistress?”

Ada sighed at the use of her title. “Do you think we might drop the formality?”

Hecate merely raised an eyebrow, then turned back to her patch of rosemary. “It is the weekend, I suppose.” There was something of an invitation in her tone, and though she could not see Hecate’s face, Ada wondered if she felt their recent distance as keenly as she did.

“I owe you an apology, Hecate.”

Hecate stilled at this, then slowly rose to her feet, banished her notebook, and turned to face Ada. Her arms remained crossed, but she kept her grip loose - as open a stance as Ada could hope for.

Ada adjusted her spectacles and looked up at her. “I shouldn’t have been cross with you that evening. You’d done nothing to deserve it.”

Hecate’s response was slow and even. “You were angry with your sister.”

Ada nodded. “And she is the person to whom I should have directed that anger. I am sorry, Hecate.”

Hecate considered her for a long moment before she dropped her arms. “Tea?” she asked suddenly.

Ada was somewhat taken aback.“You don’t have to. As I said, I didn’t want to disturb -- ”

“Ada.” Hecate’s voice was soft. “We -- I could use the break.”

Ada lifted her hand at the same time Hecate snapped her fingers and they appeared in her office, in front of her fireplace, and took their respective chairs. Ada felt the world righting itself, just a little.

* * *

The rest of term went well, all things considered  with their third years scoring higher on their end of term exams than they’d done in years.

Ada passed various girls’ rooms the night before they were all scheduled to leave, congratulating them on another good term and wishing them well on their holidays. As she reached the end of the first year corridor, she caught sight of Hecate, fully dressed in traveling robes, with a bag in her hand. “Hecate,” she called, moving to meet her approach.

Hecate tightened her grip on her bag, her gaze landing somewhere above Ada’s right shoulder. “I have some business to attend to in the morning. I shall be back in a week.”

Ada knitted her eyebrows. In all of  fifteen years, Hecate had never left before the girls. “I hope it isn’t serious. Your aunt isn’t unwell, is she?”

Hecate huffed at the mention of her only relative. “That’s not it. I… well, I -- “

Ada spared her the fumbling and lifted her hand in dismissal. “Your time is your own, Hecate. I’ll see you in a week.”

Hecate nodded gratefully. As Ada walked away, she wondered if some of what she thought had repaired between them these last few weeks was more broken than she realized.

* * *

Ada spent her week tidying up classrooms, attacking the piles of paperwork on her desk, and desperately trying to pretend she wasn’t just filling time until Hecate’s return. She’d resolved that at the end of the week, she’d finally talk about what Agatha said. They’d skirted around it enough with their late meetings and shared free periods. Ada didn’t want it forever awkwardly hanging between them without a chance to properly explain herself.

Saturday afternoon, she stood on a chair, dusting a bookshelf in her office. She’d spent the morning strengthening the school’s protective wards and didn’t have enough energy for a levitation spell. A knock sounded at the door.

“Come in,” she called, but as she turned to see her visitor, she slipped and let out a surprised yelp. Instead of the hard landing she expected, she gently floated to the floor. When she looked up, she caught Hecate’s concerned eyes and extended hands. Ada took them, warmed by their familiar slight chill and relishing in their softness.

“Ada,” greeted Hecate at the same time Ada said, “You’re back.”

Hecate appeared as though she had only just arrived home, still in her travel-worn clothes and with several bags about her. Ada gave her hands a grateful squeeze.“Thank you.” She let go of Hecate and set about making some tea. “I hope your trip went well. Where did you go, if you don’t mind my asking?”

Hecate eyed her a moment, but her clear intent to take over the tea-making remained unspoken. She moved toward her usual chair, but did not sit, standing instead with her hands clasped behind her back. “I was in Ontario.”

Ada raised her eyebrows. “Canada? You flew all the way to Canada?”

Hecate shook her head. “I flew to port an hour away, then accompanied a colleague’s coven who happened to be in search of some of the same materials.”

Ada placed their tea on the small table between them. She sat down and Hecate followed suit. “Did you find what you were looking for?”

Hecate held her eyes for a moment, then nodded. “Yes, I did.”

Ada smiled. “A worthwhile trip, then.”

Hecate bowed her head. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here to see the girls off. I hope it wasn’t too much trouble without me.”

Ada winked. “Well, I can’t say you don’t make things easier, but it went well.” She pointed toward her desk. “You’d be proud to know there is no leftover paperwork from the end of term.”

Hecate lifted an eyebrow, amusement dancing in her eyes. “An accomplishment indeed.”

Ada chuckled and looked to the small bag Hecate had kept in her lap. “Are you going to share what sent you all the way to Canada?”

Hecate stiffened and swallowed thickly. “It depends.”

Ada inclined her head. “On what?”

Hecate wrung her hands and glanced from the bag to the fireplace and back again before settling on Ada’s armrest. “On the truth of Agatha’s words as she left, that last time.”

Ada’s heart hammered against the wall of her chest. She took a deep breath. “I actually wanted to talk to you about that. I’m sorry.”

Hecate looked up and knitted her eyebrows. “Sorry?”

Ada shook her head. “She shouldn’t have said it.”

Hecate’s face fell. “It isn’t true then?”

Ada drew in another deep breath and exhaled slowly, trying and failing to slow the racing of her heart. Should she dare to hope? “What Agatha said is true. I am in love with you, and have been for some time. You should have heard it first from me and not her, but I wasn’t sure if I should tell you. I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

Hecate tilted her head. “Uncomfortable?”

Ada nodded. “In case you didn’t feel the same way and were averse to the idea.”

Hecate stared at her for a moment before she summoned a small wooden box. Her hands trembled as she extended it toward Ada. “For you.”

Ada’s mouth parted in surprise as she lifted her hands and took the box. She would have also reached for one of Hecate’s hands if Hecate hadn’t snatched them away so quickly. She opened the box and widened her eyes when she saw a small rose quartz that hung from a delicate gold chain.

Hecate’s next words came out in a rush. “I didn’t trust sending it by post; the fewer people handling it, the less trouble dispelling excess energy and I needed to be the only one…” Here Hecate trailed off, finally meeting Ada’s eyes. “Is it… is it all right?”

Ada blinked rapidly against the tears filling her eyes. “Does this mean what I think it means?”

Hecate nodded, almost shyly. She cleared her throat and gestured toward the necklace. “May I?”

Ada hummed her consent and Hecate rose, crossing to Ada’s chair. She gently took the box, her hands steadier this time, and brushed Ada’s hair to the side as she clasped the chain. Her fingers lingered on Ada’s neck before she drew them back. As soon as the necklace settled against Ada’s chest, she rose and turned toward Hecate.

Ada felt a tear drop from her eyes and Hecate reached to brush it away. Her eyes were soft and her lips curled into a half smile.

Ada smiled fully in return. “It’s beautiful, Hecate. Thank you.”

Hecate inclined her head. “It was nothing really.”

Ada brought a hand up to her cheek. “You’d move a mountain and claim it was nothing.”

Hecate leaned into her touch and smirked. “The spells aren’t _that_ difficult.”

Ada laughed at that, stroking Hecate’s cheek with her thumb. Hecate’s smirk softened into a smile and Ada felt as if her heart might burst with affection. Ada’s hand slipped down to Hecate’s neck and she pulled gently, just as she rose up to brush her lips against Hecate’s. Hecate’s fingers found their way into Ada’s hair as she met her lips with fervor. Ada wrapped an arm around Hecate’s middle and swallowed her small moan in response.

After several moments, Hecate finally pulled away, smiling as Ada moaned in protest.  She leaned forward to rest their foreheads together as their breathing slowed. “Agatha was wrong,” she murmured.

Ada snorted. “That is nothing new or different, but what specifically are you referring to?”

Later, Ada wouldn’t be able to say what exactly made her melt: Hecate’s quiet laugh, the way she nuzzled her nose against Ada’s, or what she said next.

“When she claimed you couldn’t match me. I won’t say I’m worthy of you, Ada, but you do more than measure up.”

Ada’s eyes brimmed with tears and she leaned forward to capture Hecate’s lips once more.

 

**Author's Note:**

> In case you were unaware, rose quartz can be used for guarding the heart against loss and disappointment. It is also a sign of unconditional love.


End file.
